Party is over!

Shew. This is a lot of work. I'm a dud of a mom when it comes to kid's birthday parties but we did have fun. Eighteen kids....six adults....in a house. It worked.

We had Narnia decor/knight decor everywhere.We chose activities that would involve the older (16, 17) and younger (2) kids. Our first game was charades. We mixed the kids up so there were a variety of ages on each team. They each acted two out. (Susan and Lucy ride Aslan to battle)

After charades each team was given a basket of odds and ends and told to pick a man from their team, knight him, dress him for battle and make a banner to fight under. They were cute. I was amazed at how well they did. . . "Duct Tape - a Knights secret weapon". We all got a enjoyed watching Sir Eli the Great attacking Sir Jordan the Brave during roll call. Sir Jordan had one minor disadvantage...his team mates had made his sword out of duct tape and it was taped to his belt....BUT he had a great shield which proved very useful.

All the knights (including the female knights) then headed outside for a round of sword fights. This was a highlight of the day. I got a kick out of seeing Josiah and Sgt. S going at it...the little kids enjoyed this one as much as they did. {G}


Jamin had made up clues and planned a treasure hunt - well a witch hunt.
The clues led the children to find Jadis - the white witch and bring her back to Cair Paravel where we celebrated the triumph of light over darkness. Jadis is a fool. Aslan Rules!We had cake, brownies, juice and milk.
The boys opened their gifts...
Goodie bags with the Narnia toys....and it was time to go home....we survived and actually had fun. I think everyone who came had a good time.

It was pointed out that the Narnia movie will be out on dvd in April and we need to have another Narnia party and view the movie when it comes out. I think we will. I didn't use half the ideas I found on the internet...we could make cards that compare the Bible and the Narnia books and laminate them for each family to take home. Someone suggested an industrial bag of popcorn...I guess we could break the "eat in the kitchen" rule for Narnia. We'll see.

Mike did make it home for the party and then he and John both headed back to work.

10 - 11 February

Whew – what a night.

In the midst of rushing to get ready for the change in birthday party plans today I received a call from Mike. He’d forgotten to get back to me and would like me to bring dinner to the chapel for those working late on the ORI. His call came while I was at Sam’s so that worked out well. Arielle, Nolan, Zander, Stacia and I enjoyed dinner at the chapel offices.

Several have called to say they aren’t coming to the party or they are coming to the party and I’m a bit clueless as to who will show up. I did get a cake big enough for families in the park and now that we are at the home many are not bringing all their families…so we’ll have enough cake. . . maybe we can save it for Jamin and Josiah’s party. Regardless of the number, the little boys will be thrilled.

I got a hold of Mom to wish her a happy birthday. She's had a great one. Wish I could have been there for the tea party that my sister-in-laws threw for her. Sounds wonderful Heather and Sherry.

Mike got home at about midnight and Stacia woke up at the same time. She stayed up until 2 a.m. Just as she was going down Zander woke up…coughing fit. No fever but the cough continues. I ended up spending some hours in his room.

This a.m. began with a 0800 recall for all chapel staff. Mike is back in at work but assures me that Father Jim has said he can come home in time for the party…of course this doesn’t help with the “jobs” we’d left for him to help with this a.m. but we are glad he’ll be home….

Adrienne, my park friend, emailed me a list of ideas for charades. We’ll decorate and clean this a.m. and be good to go.

Josiah woke up feeling better. He’s still froggy and says his head is strange but he has no fever, his throat is better and he’s not nauseated.

So far – that’s the day.

Happy Birthday Zander!

There is no doubt that this little guy is a handful! BUT he adds spice, zing and energy to our home. He turns 4 years old today.

My daily prayer continues to be that God would give me just a tad more strength of will than Zander each day. I’ve been here before and God has been faithful. Maybe “kids keep us young” because of prayers like “Lord, let me keep up with him one more day” or “Lord, let my will be just a bit stronger than his today”. {G}

My prayers for Zander this year are: that he continue to mature and grow into the man of God that he is intended to be, that he will finally potty train, that he’ll quit licking his lips, that he’ll begin to leave clothes on, and that his relationship with his brothers will continue to strengthen.

Zander has just begun talking about his brothers as “my other brother Nolan”, “my brother Jamin” and such…..I heard him telling a little boy at the park that he’d best not deck him or “my brother Cy will come get you” and “my other brother Nolan will play with you”. {g}